The Bank of Finland has announced that over 50% of the countries Gold reserves are held in London. Finland joins a long list of Western countries whose Gold reserves are stored at either New York, London or both. This leads credibility to the claim that Central Banks have been leasing and loaning out its Gold reserves to help surpress gold prices.

The Bank of Finland’s reserves include 49.035 tonnes of gold, valued at a market price of EUR 1,559 million as at 25 October 2013.

The Bank has confirmed the current arrangements for storing the gold held in its reserves. Having received the agreement of the central banks involved, it has decided to publish this information. The gold is stored on a geographically decentralised basis at a number of central banks: 51% is in the United Kingdom (Bank of England), 20% in Sweden (Sveriges Riksbank), 18% in the United States (Federal Reserve Bank of New York), 7% in Switzerland (Schweizerische Nationalbank) and 4% in Finland (Bank of Finland).

Gold price may be dropping but the demand for physical gold in the East is unprecedented. James Turk reckons 500 tons are being shipped each month. So much so, transportation is struggling to keep up with the demand. Turk discusses some of the reasons behind the takedown other than the obvious.

“We have recently seen one of the greatest interventions in the history of the gold market by Western central banks. Gold is one of the world’s least transparent markets, and misleading central bank accounting keeps it that way. But sometimes, by looking at different pieces of the puzzle, a picture starts emerging. So I have put together some of the pieces together….

“For example, there have been bottlenecks in moving metal, which is clearly flowing from West to East. Supply from mining in the West, excluding Russia and China which do not export their production, is about 160 tons per month. In addition, there may be another 50-to-80 tons per month of gold already in the above ground stock which moves around as a result of normal flows among countries and changing demand for different gold products.

But I estimate that recently over 500 tons per month have been moving around. This has had the effect of creating some transportation bottlenecks. The transport providers have not been able to cope with this remarkable development. Similarly, the refiners have not been able to cope with the historic level of demand by fabricating the metal needed to meet the frantic buying, even though they are operating 24/7. So we have to ask ourselves, where is all this metal coming from?

We are talking here about physical metal, Eric, and not just selling paper-gold with futures and other derivatives. The reality is that there has simply been too much metal moving from West to East — far beyond what has been dishoarded from ETFs and other visible sources like the Comex vaults. Much of this physical metal had to come from central bank vaults. That point is clear. But an important question still remains unanswered.

Even though Western central banks killed the gold price during the last couple of months with their dishoarding, we do not yet know precisely why they killed the gold price. What did the central planners want to accomplish by dishoarding so much metal in such a short period of time?

Of course we know the obvious reasons, like trying to keep people in national currencies, and the various risks these currencies involve, particularly the risk of keeping money on deposit in banks. Reasons such as these have been in play for more than a decade as the central planners have attempted to hold together a financial system that is no longer sustainable because of insolvent banks, unmanageable levels of debt and governments that cannot control their spending. These reasons have been well documented by the various analysts whose work has been published at places such as GATA and King World News.

But we have never before seen such a massive amount of dishoarding from central banks in such a short period of time. Given that the central bankers all recognize the importance of gold as a key monetary asset on their balance sheet and one they only sell gold reluctantly, why did they do it? Why the selling frenzy? And why right now?

Here is one possibility: It was to provide liquidity to ailing banks in Italy, or perhaps Spain. This is difficult to prove because central banks still do not prepare their accounts according to generally accepted accounting principles. But look at it this way, every 100 tons of gold is $4 billion of liquidity. So if central banks sold 500 tons, and I think at least this much was dishoarded by them recently, it is $20 billion, which is enough to provide a big lifeline to some insolvent banks.

It works like this. The banks borrow gold from the central bank, which they then sell for dollars/euros. The transaction is hidden from view because of central bank accounting, and the gold debt on the borrowing bank’s balance sheet is hidden among its total liabilities. The added benefit is that its gold liability diminishes as the gold price falls, making the bank appear even more solvent. Of course the bad assets remain, so this scheme is just a fig leaf for the insolvent banks to buy time.

However, there is an irony here for holders of gold: The dishoarding by central banks has caused the gold price to drop precipitously, but the central bank’s use of gold makes clear gold’s greatest attribute, which is the exceptional liquidity gold provides. Gold is money, and in this case it is rainy-day money in the sense that if I am right about how it is being used here, it is giving insolvent banks a lifeline.

The net result is that gold continues to flow from the West to the East where it is more highly valued. But even if desperate Western central banks are dishoarding gold in order to bail-out insolvent commercial banks, don’t take your eye off the ball. Keep accumulating physical gold and silver because they have always stood the test of time as the world’s only true money. All of these schemes by Western central planners will ultimately fail and the current financial system will end in disaster. As the system implodes, one of the only things left standing will be physical gold and silver.”

Two years after opening, the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (HKMEX) is to cease trading on Monday and close out all open positions. Clearly physical gold will not be delivered and the the question to ask is will the LBMA or COMEX be shortly behind it.

When the Rothchild’s HKMEx was launched in 2011, much of the metals community assumed that the COMEX & LBMA, were they not to outright default, would fade into irrelevance with the advent of the new Asian metals exchange. Two years to the day after the exchange’s launch however, in perhaps the most glaring evidence of physical gold & silver shortage to date, the HKMEx has announced it will voluntarily cease trading, and all open positions will be closed out and financially (cash) settled on Monday 5/20!

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We suspect that come Monday morning, more than one Chinese investor who believed he owned a gold position (and learns that in fact he held paper) will immediately attempt to source and take delivery of physical metal. As the Shanghai Gold Exchange appears to have stopped delivering gold as well, we suspect that the LBMA may be in for a bit of a physical run.

The first domino appears to have fallen in the ponzi fractional gold system.

Many people have claimed that the worlds reserve currency, the US Dollar will eventually cease to provide that role only to be replaced by a basket of currencies or one backed by gold. Karen Hudes, World Bank whistleblowe,r has confirmed that paper currency will be underpinned by precious metals.

I had the opportunity yesterday to speak with one of the western world’s most courageous and astute women, Karen Hudes, Former Senior Counsel to the World Bank—now turned whistle-blower. It was a powerful conversation, as Karen spent 20 years with the World Bank as an attorney and economist, before being “let-go” after reporting internal fraud and corruption. During the interview Karen indicated that the world is rapidly changing, with western power structures breaking down, economic & political influence gravitating to BRICs nations, all amid a pendingcurrency transition which will highly favor precious metals. Hudes stated: “All of the countries of the world are going to allow precious metals to serve as currency, and this will be an underpinning for paper currency, as we’ll have both systems at the same time.”

Starting out by discussing the shocking centralized power she witnessed while working at the World Bank, Karen explained that, “A study done by three [Swiss] systems analysts who used mathematical modeling [shows] how the [world’s] 43,000 transnational corporations were being controlled through interlocking corporate directorates. There’s a group of 147 companies, most of them are financial institutions, and what they’ve done, is through the interlocking directorates, they control 40% of the net worth of these [43k] companies, and 60% of their earnings…so that group has been using the presidency of the World Bank as kind of a puppet to dominate the world—that’s [now] finished.”

A major shock to that centralized power base, according to Karen, was the recent move by BRICs nations leaders to bypass the World Bank for their financing needs, by establishing their own development bank. “As the BRICs [nations] economic power grows,” she explained,“they’re not going to be strangled anymore through the grabbing [of] their resources…So their decision to start their own development bank was their way of letting [world] governments know…that its time to end this corruption.”

Major moves toward monetary independence are also being made by growing numbers of U.S. states, Karen added. She explained that, “The states are starting to have legislation recognizing gold and silver bullion as legal currency. This is [also] a very strong signal the states are sending to the federal government, that the time to get serious about ending the corruption in the financial system is now here.”

When asked her thoughts on what this all means for the world monetary system, Karen said, “What’s going to happen, is we’re going to have all the countries of the world, sit down and figure out what’s going to be the best, most orderly transition from the current system that we have, [which has] profound imbalance and unsustainable deficits…[this change] is going to happen as each country makes its preference known, because the system we have now is not transparent, and the biggest change [in the new system], is that there’s going to be transparency.”

That transparency may be found through a gold-backed currency system, Karen noted, as, “All of the countries of the world are going to allow precious metals to serve as currency, and this will be an underpinning for paper currency, [as] we’ll have both systems at the same time. This is my guess, as I mentioned—I am an economist.”

As a final comment speaking towards her difficult journey as a World Bank whistle-blower, Karen said, “I’ve been struggling now for years, to tell the American public what’s [been] going on. I haven’t gotten through, because this [financial] group has bought up the press and has been spreading disinformation systematically. That undermines the whole point of a democracy. How can voters vote without an informed opinion, without the information that they’re entitled too? So this strangle-hold on information is going to end in very short order.”

For further background on corruption in the World Bank check out the interview of whistleblower Karen Hudes.

Like this:

Arizona follows Utah’s lead by making gold and silver legal tender. More than a dozen states have considered similar moves in the last few years. This is a further kick in the stones for people’s faith in the US dollar since Central Bankers have gone full retard with the printing presses. At least now in Arizona there is an alternative that cannot be inflated so easily. Watch this space as more will undoubtedly follow.

PHOENIX (Reuters) – The Arizona Senate on Tuesday approved a measure to make gold and silver legal currency in the state, in a response to what backers said was a lack of confidence in the international monetary system.

The legislation cleared the Republican-controlled Senate by an 18-10 vote after being approved by the state House earlier this month. It now goes to Republican Governor Jan Brewer, who has not indicated if she will sign it into law or veto it.

The bill calls for Arizona to make gold and silver coins and bullion legal tender beginning in mid-2014, joining existing U.S. currency issued by the federal government.

If signed into law, Arizona would become the second state in the nation to establish these precious metals as legal tender. Utah approved such legislation in 2011.

More than a dozen states have considered similar legislation in recent years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The use of gold and silver as currency would be strictly voluntary, with businesses left free to accept the precious metals as payment for goods and services as they choose.

State Senator Chester Crandell, a Republican and sponsor of the bill, said the ability to use gold and silver in everyday life in the state is still a “work in progress” and that more legislation was needed before it could be viable.

“This is the first step in getting it into the statute so we can build on it,” Crandell said at an earlier hearing on the bill.

But Democratic state Senator Steve Farley said the bill could create massive problems for businesses in the state and government officials trying to administer what would in effect be a dual monetary system.

“There’s no reason for us to do this,” Farley told lawmakers during the final vote on Tuesday. “This is another one of those things that gets national press for us – and not in a good way.”

He also pointed to the recent decline in the value of gold – which sank to $1,321.35 per ounce on April 16, its lowest price in more than two years – noting that “anybody who thinks gold or silver is a really safe place to put your money had better think again.”

The push to establish gold and silver as currency has become increasingly popular in the United States in recent years among some hardline fiscal conservatives, with the backing of groups including the Tea Party movement, American Principles Project and the Gold Standard Institute.

Keith Weiner, president of the Gold Standard Institute advocacy group and a supporter of the bill, said the legislation was needed to counter what he sees as insolvency in the global monetary system.

“The dollar system and all of the other derivative currencies, including the euro, are a recipe for worldwide bankruptcy,” Weiner told lawmakers at an earlier hearing, adding that a “sound and honest money system such as gold and silver” was needed to bring stability.

As growth grinds to a halt Worldwide, debt levels increase and unemployment queues continue to grow longer, someone always profits from a collapsing system but the question remains, was it by design or accident? For the US to go off the Gold Standard and dump unlimited dollars into the global financial system coupled with a massively over leveraged banking system, were we not always going collapse under he weight of fiat currency and toxic derivatives? Jim Sinclair goes even further to suggest it was no accident but a frightening plan to control the masses. It may not be too far from the truth, especially when you read Matt Taibbi’s article “Everything is rigged”.

The enormous violence in the markets is obscuring a very clear message. The message from Cyprus, that has also been written in various white papers and signed by central banks, the FDIC, Bank of England, and the BIS, is to get out of the system.

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People have to understand that going forward large deposits by ‘non-insiders’ are no longer going to be permitted. The goal of this pre-arranged wealth destruction is to equalize the ‘new rich’ and the ‘upper middle-class.’ Those not on the inside, with the right families and the right companies, are not going to be tolerated in the ‘New Paradigm’ of currency and metal that we are now moving into.

So the only means of being able to protect yourself will be to understand the answer to the question, ‘What is the final end game for the most powerful families that are in fact running countries and markets?’….

“Take into consideration that the recent and violent drop in the gold price, especially if followed by an equally violent recovery, was primarily for the transfer of physical gold from financial and other entities to the families that are running the Western governments and financial world.

In my opinion that’s exactly what has just happened. A very strong and immediate recovery, that is sustained, makes the message clear that gold is an ingredient for these wealthy families to maintain their wealth and power, not simply over a generation, but over multiple generations.

We are coming very close to a point where the manufacturing of unprecedented amounts of fiat currency has to have a global impact. You simply can’t increase the amount of currency as violently as what been done, without having to face the consequences, one of which is the collapse of the purchasing power of those fiat currencies.

The massive and ongoing currency war the world has been witnessing may come to a head much sooner than any of us realize. So investors must have an understanding of how the system will be preserved, and eventually reset, in order to survive the coming wealth destruction.

Maintaining significant deposits inside banks in the current financial system is setting up that portion of your wealth to be destroyed or stolen from you. Whereas maintaining physical gold inside a private storage, outside of the banking system, is one of the ways you can survive what is coming.

Physical gold will be the primary beneficiary of the ‘Great Unwind’ that is still in front of us. This is why the latest attempt to smash gold in the paper market was met with one of the most ferocious physical buying sprees the world has ever seen.

Owners of physical gold may end up being the quality non-North American gold companies, as well as individuals which move out of fiat money and into physical gold while the price is cheap. From now on every dip you see in paper gold will be met by a corresponding move by savvy investors around the world to trade in their fiat money for physical gold.

“The time to get out of the system is immediately in order not to be destroyed by the ‘Great Equalization’ that is about to take place”.

This phase will serve to bring humanity to its knees. It is going to be about control of the masses, for the benefit of the few.

Derivatives will be a primary tool for the destroyers of wealth, and bank deposits all over the Western hemisphere will be invaded. So investors must get out of the system and have physical gold and gold related investments in order to survive what is still to come.”

“The price of gold is going to significant new highs, and that drive to new highs will be as a result of a continued move into physical gold. Because the manipulative tool of the paper market has been revealed as a fraudulent determiner of price, the physical gold price will now be free to move to levels that even you and I will be surprised at, and it will be maintained at that level for generations.”

As a consequence of the gold takedown last week, there has been a huge interest in physical gold. Many gold dealers have had to increase premium over spot or have simply had to wait for further supplies. Jim Sinclair reports of a friend being denied his gold in an allocated Swiss account.

Today legendary trader Jim Sinclair stunned King World News when he revealed that a dear friend of his who is very affluent just had a Swiss bank refuse to return his large hoard of gold when he asked for it out of an allocated account. Below is what Sinclair, who was once called on by former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker to assist during a Wall Street crisis, had to say in this remarkable and candid interview.

Eric King: “Maguire spoke on KWN yesterday about the fact that one of his clients went to the LBMA to get the metal from them and could not get it. They told him he would be cash settled. This is what you have been talking about is the failure of the physical markets.”

Sinclair: “A person that I know with significant deposits in one of the primary Swiss banks, in allocated gold, wanted to take out his gold and was just refused on the basis of directives from the central bank….

“They told him the amount was in excess of 200,000 Swiss francs and the central bank had instructed them not to do it because it has to do with anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering precautions.

I really wonder whether those are precautions or whether the gold simply isn’t there. Now you tell me that a London delivery has basically failed. It has to raise our suspicions that the lack of physical gold behind the paper gold is literally so severe that we are coming to understand that it is in fact not there.

The gold that people think is stored is not stored, and the inventory of the warehouses for exchanges may not be holding deliverable gold. There has always been speculation about whether or not the physical gold the US claims to store is in fact in those vaults.

The greatest train robbery in history might be all of the gold, and it would only be something like we have described above that would happen right before gold makes historic highs.

There simply is no gold behind the paper. One example is AMRO, a second is your example with Maguire, and a third is my dear friend who was refused his gold on the basis that its value was too high. Remember this friend of mine had his gold in an allocated account in storage at a major Swiss bank. I repeat, there is no gold.”

Eric King: “Jim, when I listen to what you are saying, to what Maguire is saying, it really does tell me we are at the end game in terms of the paper market. It’s collapsing right now as you have been warning.”

Sinclair: “The vicious and blatant manipulation of the gold price (lower) via paper, on Friday and on Monday, may very well be the biggest mistake that the manipulators ever conceived of. I firmly believe it revealed that the price of gold has nothing to do with gold itself.

But I would add that if in fact the physical demand remains at these levels or even increases as the price of gold rises, I believe that the warehouses for the exchanges will be so significantly drawn down that it will force cash settlement.

The bottom line here is the paper market for gold may have just lit itself on fire, and served to burn the manipulators’ houses to the ground. You’ve heard of the phrase, ‘The emperor has no clothes.’ Well, this is infinitely worse because it is finally being revealed that the paper market for gold, in fact, has no gold.”

What’s happened now is they are in a position where that leased gold is being asked for and they don’t have it. I know of a very large client who actually turned up for his bullion, was refused his bullion, and told he would be settled in cash. I felt I should go public with that (on KWN).

…(ABN AMRO) really was the tip of the iceberg. What happened was that we saw that first bullion bank create the first visible default of the LBMA fractional reserve system. I hear of other clients who are now panicking, and what happens? You get an official intervention. That’s what it (the takedown in gold and silver) was all about.”